Uncanny X-Men #125

My very FIRST X-Men comic, the one that introduced me to those Uncanny heroes, and WOW, what a issue to start off with! Not only was I introduced to all the X-men, but also Moira MacTaggert, Phoenix, Beast, Havok and Polaris AND the Danger Room! EVERYTHING was in this issue!

And if that weren’t enough, this was the first part of the incredible PROTEUS storyline, the beginnings of the HELLFIRE CLUB storyline and, of course, the seeds of what would eventually become the “DEATH OF PHOENIX” saga!

To this day this run remains the title that all others must compare to, and John Byrne and Terry Austin are STILL my favorite Artist/inker combo of all time!

Super-Vixens: Ms. Marvel

When I was first introduced to Ms. Marvel, I have to confess I didn’t find her very interesting, and as a matter of fact, thought that the Red and Blue Captain Marvel costume looked absolutely ridiculous cut into  a bad one-piece swimsuit. But I had a friend who absolutely loved her, (and I mean LOVED her!) and insisted on sharing,  so I was exposed to her comic whether I liked it or not! This actually worked out to my benefit as I was able to filter through the stuff I didn’t like and appreciate the stuff I did, and eventually I came around and started picking up some of those issues myself!

Original Costume

The biggest part of what turned me around from a non-believer to a general fan of the comic was, of course, THE NEW COSTUME! Now THIS was what I liked! Rendered by a master of sexy super-heroine costumes was the mighty DAVE COCKRUM, and YES, the new outfit looked EXACTLY like a variation of Jean Grey’s revamped PHOENIX costume, but HEY, when you’ve got a winning formula, you don’t mess with it…

The Bold n Sassy NEW Outfit

So, anyway, gone was the horrendous red and blue outfit, in was the sleek ‘n’ sexy blue outfit with the lightning bolt and golden sash , and just in time for a  return slugfest against super baddie Deathbird (who would go on to give Hawkeye a run for his money in AVENGERS #189) then onward to my favorite arcs of the series, where Carol dukes it out with a civilization of super Lizard Men! Ah, trust me, it’s cooler than it sounds.  And THEN…

The Comic got cancelled. Yep. GEEZ! All that coaxing and convincing me to get onboard the Ms. Marvel Fan Ship, and then the voyage was abruptly ended! But the best was yet to come with the aforementioned AVENGERS stint, all lovingly rendered by John Byrne, who was TOTALLY in his PRIME at this time!

At this time we started trying to buy all the back issues of old Avengers stories, and when we got our hands of the epic KREE-WARS stories, got to see exactly where Carol Danvers had come from in the first place! It was kind of nest to realize she actually had a bit of “history” within the pages of those old Silver Age Marvels!

So yeah,  I was a fan there…but after that surrealistic ( and highly controversial) AVENGERS issue  (196?) where she gets pregnant in some convoluted cosmic drama, I kind of lost interest and drifted away again. Next time I checked, for some reason the character named “Ms Marvel”  was a big female version of  the Thing! I didn’t know if this was supposed to be Carol Danvers or some OTHER character, and I  DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW! (Okay, I found out later it was some OTHER gal, but still, the shock…!)

 In fact, it was only with the arrival of Frank Cho’s cool and sexy MS MARVEL revival did I breathe a sigh of RELIEF, for here once again was that awesome dynamic costume, proving it could stand the test of time! The MS Marvel of Old was back! ( and MAN, let’s hope she STAYS that way!)

Frank Cho Ms Marvel

 A funny side-story that always makes me smile is remembering when my friend picked up a new issue of Ms Marvel and saw that Carol was dating some dude with a beard, he mock- angrily declared war against all bearded men, and set about cutting up every picture of a bearded man in the daily newspaper. I sat on the couch howling with laughter as he jokingly destroyed all the pictures, until he got into trouble when his father scolded him and said “What are you DOING to the Newspaper? I haven’t even READ it yet!”

Ahahahahahaha!!!

Ms. Marvel / Carol Danvers

First Appearance: Marevel Super-Heroes #13

By Roy Thomas and Gene Colan

Super-Vixens: Duo Damsel

While I’ve never been a big fan of Duo Damsel’s orange and purple outfit, I’ve always had a place in my heart for the character herself- probably because the writers of DC (especially Cary Bates) always took the time to write special side-stories for her and her beau, the  rubbery Bouncing Boy, that really showed how “Down to Earth” (OK, they weren’t on EARTH, but you get my meaning) the couple was, every story showing off the love they had for each other, making readers like me care a hella lot for them.

  In any case, yeah, I didn’t care much for the former Triplicate Girl’s costume, but when Chuck and Luorno decided to tie the knot in SUPERBOY STARRING THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #200, I was presented with Luorno draped in one of the prettiest, elegant outfits ever- her wedding dress, to be sure, but so much more…cosmic than what most would expect! Plus, I don’t think Dave Cockrum’s ever draw her more beautiful. WOW!

  The Wedding of Duo Dansel and Bouncing Boy eventually led to Dave Cockrum leaving the Legion of Super-Heroes.Apparently, the story goes that Dave loved that illustration of the wedding so much, he asked editor Cary Bates if he could have the original art as a keepsake. “I don’t see why not,” was Bates’ reply. Later, however, when editor Carmine Infantino came into Cary’s office, he saw the artwork on his desk and asked what it was doing there. Whn he told him he’d like to give it to Dave, Infantino said flatly, “We don’t’ give the artwork back!” Dave was so hurt by this callous descision, that he left, right then and there!

 Happily enough, Dave was able to pull some strings and get his hands on that artwork some years later! In an interview with , he admitted that although he DID have it at one point, by the time of the interview, he himself had already sold it off, too! Ahahaha!

 Triplicate Girl

First appearance: Action Comics # 276

By Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney

Super-Vixens: Shadow Lass

Up next is the gorgeous vixen Tasmia Mallor, the indigo-hued Super Heroine Shadow Lass.

I have to say that initially, she really didn’t stick out in any way for me, in fact, Tasmia didn’t appear in too many of the early Legion Of Super Hero issues I had growing up.

I actually only started appreciating her character in the 1989 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES revamp. In this she was portrayed as a stoic type, sort of councilwoman “planetary protector”. It was this version that I started accepting as the “real” version, which led to me being completely BLOWN AWAY by how sultry and sexy she was during the old Mike Grell run (when I took the time to bring out those musty old issues.)

You see, the 1989 LEGION run was supposed to be in the future of the original Legion of Super-Heroes, and all the members are shown as older, grown up people. Seeing Tasmia as a young, hot chick after seeing her motherly for so long… WELL! I became an instant fan!

You know, I’ve always thought that Shady’s costume looked an awful lot like Vampirella’s for some reason…Same bathing-suit with the tummy part cut out, and the fancy insignia on the belly button area.

First appearance            Adventure Comics #365

Created by            Jim Shooter & Curt Swan

Favorite Artists: Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell!!!

Super-Vixens: Phoenix

The Mighty Dave Cockrum strikes again with this totally awesome outfit, one of my favorite designs, and I don’t care that he designed practically the same identical suit for Ms. Marvel… In fact, that costume is gonna show up any time now on this list!

Man, I just love this outfit, and it only got better when Byrne took over! Funny thing, one big difference in the way the two artists depicted the costume for me was that in Cockrum’s drawings, the green part of her costume always seemed like cotton material, for some reason, with leather boots and gloves, whereas Byrne’s illustrations always looked completely slick, like some kind of cosmic latex!

And another thing I mentioned before, John Byrne just loved drawing girls in pretty clothes, and Jean was no exception- in fact, he really draped Ms. Grey in some wonderful outfits over the years, but my favorite has to be the green off-shoulder dress she’s wearing in Uncanny X-Men #114. Just so damn pretty!

Oh, and I am adamant in my belief that the ORIGINAL storyline where Jean Grey turns into Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men #101, turns to Dark Phoenix in issue #135, dies in issue #137, and is buried in issue #138 as the ONE TRUE and CORRECT story.

Call me stubborn (yes) and hard headed (yep, yep), but as far as I’m concerned, the Jean Grey that we knew and loved has passed away, and I refuse to subscribe to any of those revisionist storylines that sprout up regularly like evil baobabs seeking to invade and destroy my planet! Argggh…

Jean went out in a thoughtful, unselfish and poignant way, and that’s how I want to remember her.

Jean Grey:

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

First Appearance in Phoenix Costume:

Uncanny X-Men #101 by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum

Favorite Artists:

Dave Cockrum and John Byrne

Super-Vixens: Phantom Girl

Up next is cute-as-a-button Tinya Wazzo, the Bgztlian native better known to the DC Universe as the Legion of Super-Heroes very own PHANTOM GIRL!

With the ability to phase through solid objects, Tinya was inducted into the Legion’s fold early on, but it wasn’t until years later when Dave Cockrum updated her character with that swinging’ futuristic bell-bottom jumpsuit that she became the spunky pony-tailed girl that we came to know and love!

While girls like Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet and Dream Girl were heating up the Legion Outposts, Tinya always came across as the warm and bubbly “best friend” to everyone, she was the “sweet” girl! In fact, I always used to read the old 25¢ Superboy comics thinking that she looked an awful lot like Dawn Wells a.k.a. Many Ann Summers of Gilligan’s Island!

Most of these scans come courtesy of my beloved beat-up copy of Superboy starring the Legion Of Super-Heroes #203, an issue which Mike Grell seemed particularly inspired with his depictions of Tinya. She looked so adorable in every panel! The illustration of Tinya on the cover is a fave, too, drawn by the master himself, NICK CARDY. ..Can this man EVER draw a bad picture of a girl?

Phantom Girl:

First Appearance: Action Comics #276 by Jerry Seigel and Jim Mooney

Favorite Artists: Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell ( the Legion Immortals! )

Super-Vixens: Dream Girl

So imagine there's this super-heroine whose powers are precognition. Then say that the futuristic visions come to this girl in her dreams. That would naturally set up a character whose comic scenes would ultimately be spent in her bed, wouldn't it? So you'd figure that a character like this couldn't work, because the writers would have to work her bedroom into each issue, as well as outfit the girl with her very own bed in headquarters, right?

Yet that's exactly what happened to beautiful Nura Nal, the clairvoyant young girl from the planet Naltor who became the resident precognitive of DC's Legion Of Super-Heroes. Yes, she spends most of her crime-fighting in bed. And yes, they've been known to feature Nura's bedroom in many issues. In fact, although she does have a body-suit for fighting action, her usual Legion outfit (designed by that master of gal costumes Dave Cockrum) consists of what amounts to more or less a suped-up negligee!

Obviously Nura's called Dream Girl because her powers are the ability to dream the future, but on a more practical note, she could just as easily be called Dream Girl because of her general HOTNESS! The very first time I read an issue of the Legion (it was issue #203) and saw her alerting her fellow members of an imminent attack in that nightie-costume, my mind went..."Whoa....Dream Girl!"

In later issues, she was "toughened up" a bit, and was more prone to butt-kicking than sleeping, but she still retained her gorgeous looks (not to mention that mole on her cheek shaped like a star), thus ensuring her legacy as the dreamiest Legionnaire no matter what her modus operandi!

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #317

Favorite Artists: Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, Dan Jurgens